HUMBOLDT — “We are paying for moving from being a poor district to a rich district,” Kay Lewis, USD 258 superintendent of schools, said.
The change of fortune, oddly enough, is putting more of a funding burden on local property owners because of the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling that school funding was inequitable between rich and poor districts.
The state’s subsequent revamping of its school funding formula affects USD 258 because its assessed valuation was enriched by the new Enbridge pipeline crossing the district and the addition of a big pumping station southeast of Humboldt.
With the pipeline, Humboldt’s net worth for ad valorem taxing purposes soared from $29.4 million in 2015 to $55 million in 2016. For 2017, the district’s valuation is $53.8 million.
For Humboldt schools because of legislative action means a loss of $350,507 in state aid for its local option budget.
Overall, the district’s tax levy responsibility will increase 3 mills, from this year’s 52.691 mills to 55.726.
The 3-mill levy will mean an increase of about $33.50 for the owner of a $100,000 home.
The district’s capital outlay fund remains flush, with $1.84 million in the bank.
Several expenditures of some magnitude are planned for this school year, which began on July 1, Lewis said. Among them are a new bus and mobility van and roofs on the central office building, middle school and technology building. Those are obligations that have been planned. Others will unfold during planning sessions in the months ahead.
For the record, net expenditures for 2016-17 are forecast at $6.21 million in the general fund and $1.52 million in the LOB, with resources in each mainly for salaries, instructional materials and programming. Capital outlay money is restricted to capital improvements and some equipment purchases.
BEYOND the base budget, district debt obligations total $5.96 million. Of that $3.7 million is in general obligation bonds tied to the Humboldt Community Fieldhouse and $2.22 million is in lease-purchase agreements for the sports complex east of town.
Looking ahead with the sports complex, Lewis said a portion of the capital outlay fund would be earmarked this and in the years ahead for turf replacement. “The sports complex is only three years old, but things wear out and we have to be prepared to deal with them.”
On the plus side of ongoing obligations, Lewis pointed out that lease-purchase agreements for stadium lights and energy efficiency upgrades in schools were paid off in the last year.
